Quarian Directives

 

It wasn't long into their journey to Omega, a day or so probably, before Jack had finally decided she'd had enough.



As soon as she had gotten back to the ship, she had bolted straight for her living space in engineering. Her earbuds went back into place, and she sat on her cot with her legs curled up against her chest. As the centuries-old music blared into her ears, her eyes darted back and forth between the two stairwells.



"Anybody fucking comes down here except Shepard," she muttered to herself, "they better turn right back around if they know what's good for them."



But nobody came. Jack still kept up her guard, though. Shepard promised that she was going to fix this, and Jack trusted her. But until Shepard herself said that everything was okay, and that Miranda had been taken care of, she wasn't taking any goddamn chances.



Eventually, the gnawing feeling in her stomach became too much to ignore, however. Dashing up the stairs, she quickly made her way to the lift. Gabby passed on the way, and Jack quickly averted her eyes, the music in her ears blocking out whatever instructions the Cerberus bitch was trying to use on her.



Once she reached Deck 3, she grabbed the first plate she saw on someone's table and charged back to her hiding place, the music in her ears blocking out any protests the unfortunate diner had. After wolfing down the meal back on her cot, she resumed her vigil.



She didn't remember when she ended up dozing off, but she awoke to find Ken standing over her, staring down with that creepy fake smile that all the other brainwashed Cerberus fucks had been wearing these days.



"Get the fuck out of here!" she cried out, loud over the music still playing in her ears. "You fuckers aren't going to get in my head again!"



Ken said something, but Jack didn't hear it over the symphony that was damn near making her ears bleed. After she shouted at him some more, he finally gave up and left.



"Can't do this anymore," Jack said to herself after he was gone. "Goddamnit, I ain't gonna let them make me into a cowering rat."



Screw Shepard. Jack needed to start making her own plans. But she knew that she wasn't going to be able to manage on her own. She was going to need allies.



But were there any allies left on this ship? Or had Miranda and Cerberus gotten to them all? There had to be somebody those humans-first pricks hadn't gotten to...



The aliens. Shit, of course. They would be the ones most likely to still have their minds. Standing up, Jack made her way out of engineering toward the lift again at a determined pace.



They wouldn't win. Those Cerberus fucks were going to have her and every last alien on this ship to contend with if they thought they were going to take the Normandy back to the Illusive Man. She was going to make sure of it.



* * *



"Shepard, what's going... Jack?" Garrus watched her enter the forward battery in surprise. "Uh, this is... unexpected."



Garrus had been her first choice for a couple of reasons. For one, he was one of Shepard's oldest friends. If Jack could convince him that Miranda was out to brainwash all the people on this ship, including his buddy Shepard, he'd probably be the most likely to back any play she made. Plus, from what she heard about his time on Omega as Archangel, he was willing to do the type of shit that little Miss Girl Scout Shepard would consider too extreme.



And even if she couldn't convince him right away, the guy had been C-Sec, and one of the few ones who wasn't a corrupt asshole. A good cop like him may not be willing to buy her claims right away, but he wouldn't be able to resist checking out the evidence. And once he did, Jack knew he'd see the same shit she was seeing.



"Hey, gotta talk to you. Something private? Anybody else here?" she craned her neck to glance around the room.



"Nobody except the twenty geth infiltrators cloaked and hiding right over there," Garrus pointed with a talon. "But don't worry, they're very discreet."

God, she didn't need the turian's fucking sense of humor, or lack thereof, right now. "You noticed anything weird going on lately? Like, people acting funny?"



"Other than you actually coming out of hiding and talking to me... no, not really. But then again, I tend to spend most of my time in here making sure the guns are calibrated properly," Garrus chuckled. "Shepard used to always kid me about spending so much time worrying about our accuracy, but after these guns tore through the Collectors with absolutely no drift in aim, don't hear her laughing too much now."



"Goddamn it, this is serious," Jack snapped at him. She didn't want to come right out and say it, just in case Cerberus had already gotten to him. "Think about it. Has anybody not been acting like their normal selves lately?"



Garrus put two talons to his chin, or beak or whatever. "I honestly can't think of much. Although something's definitely eating Shepard these days. Really not sure why we're taking this sudden diversion to Omega. Plus that whole thing with the surveillance cameras..."



Getting annoyed, Jack finally took the gamble. "What about Miranda? Anything weird going on with Miranda?"



Jack didn't know much about reading turian emotions, with all their weird face parts, but she could tell right away that the mention of Miranda had shifted Garrus's demeanor immediately. "Uh, I... uh, what do you mean, weird, exactly?"



Shit. Something was up, Jack was sure of it. "Had she come around to see you recently? Made you do anything? Like, shit you wouldn't normally do?"



"No, no, nothing like that," Garrus said, way too quickly. "Look, it's been fun chatting with you, Jack, but I really should get back to these calibrations. How about you give me some privacy... I mean, give me some space to work here for a while, okay?"



"B..." Jack started to say, but then she felt herself turning around and walking to the door. "Goddamn it!" she muttered under her breath, as the door to the forward battery closed behind her.



* * *



"Ah, excellent. Have actually been meaning to come speak to you, so glad you came by," Mordin was off on one of his tears before Jack had barely set foot inside the lab. "Know it's asking much of you, but wondering if you would mind undergoing a few tests regarding your amplified biotic abilities. Illusive Man's experiments barbaric, yes, but like Maelon's data, could lead to beneficial results."



Jack frowned. If she could actually get the salarian to shut up for a few seconds, she might be able to convince him about what was going on. Hell, maybe if he poked around her head for a little bit, he could figure out what Miranda had done to her and fix it. But first, she had to make sure he wasn't compromised. "Maybe later. Just came by to ask if you'd seen anything strange going on with the crew lately."



"Strange? Not that I am aware of. All crew appear to be functioning at peak efficiency. Stress and release of defeating Collectors have passed, resulting in return to normal routine. Dr. Chakwas reports no major medical issues with the crew. Curious why you, of all people, would express concerns about the crew."



Jack decided to cut to the chase. "Has Miranda come by to see you recently?"



And just like with Garrus, Mordin's mood immediately shifted. "Miss Lawson? N..no, haven't seen her. Why, have you talked to her recently? Mention my name, did she?"



"Dammit," Jack cursed to herself. To Mordin she casually replied, "Never mind, it's nothing."



A strange eagerness came into Mordin's voice. "If you should happen to encounter Miss Lawson, tell her for me that last experiment yielded... quite interesting results. Would like to have her visit again for another round of vigorous testing."



Jack frowned at the nervous salarian. "Thought you said you hadn't seen her. When did you run an experiment with her?"



"No time for these questions," Mordin said dismissively. "Very busy, have very important testing to work on. Must have privacy for next three hours at least. Do not disturb me until then."



"I..." Jack tried in vain to continue the conversation, but Mordin's instruction already had her spinning on her heel and walking back out of the lab. "Fuck you, Miranda," she cursed.

* * *



Jack's worst fears were being realized. Miranda had gotten to the rest of the crew, as well. Even the aliens, she had done something to keep them from talking to anyone. Probably some sort of hypnotic suggestion voodoo like she did to Jack.



Still, she had to try the rest of them, even if the results were fruitless. As the door to the lift opened on Deck 3, Jack stepped to the side as Grunt walked in with a giant plate of steaming meat.



Stepping out onto Deck 3, Jack turned and put a hand on the lift opening to keep the door from closing. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure nobody else was listening before she talked to Grunt. "Say, big guy, can I ask you a question?"



"Grr... make it fast, human," Grunt growled at her. "My mid-afternoon snack is already getting cold."



Jack didn't have high hopes for getting any answers out of Grunt. Even without having his mind screwed with, the krogan wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. And while he'd be a powerful ally against Miranda and the rest of the indoctrinated Cerberus lackeys, she doubted she'd be able to lead him down the path of logic to realize that the crew was compromised.



But it was worth a shot. "Don't suppose anybody besides Shepard has paid you a visit down in the cargo hold, recently? Like, say, Miranda?"



As with the last two, the mention of her name immediately changed Grunt's demeanor. But instead of making him look uncomfortable, a wide grin came to the krogan's face. "Heh heh heh. Oh, yeah, she definitely paid me a visit. Showed me a few things about humans that Okeer didn't put into his memory implants, if you know what I mean."



"What? You mean she..." Jack's jaw dropped. "Oh, no way! She didn't..."



"She did. Several times. Do all of you humans smell like female krogans in heat when you're aroused? Or is she unique among your species? Either way, she seemed to find the experience quite agreeable." Grunt chuckled and slapped Jack's hand away from the lift door. "And unless you're making a similar offer, human, then we're done talking."



The door slid shut, leaving Jack deep in thought.



"The cheerleader... fucking Grunt?" she thought to herself, as she paced down the hallway. Seeing someone approaching, she quickly reinserted the earbuds, keeping any commands from reaching her eardrums. "She couldn't have. Miss Prim and Proper Lawson bending over for krogan cock? I don't want to even picture it."



But it made Jack remember how Garrus and Mordin had reacted when she had mentioned Miranda's name. Jack had thought that Miranda had fucked with their brains to make them not want to talk about her. But what if she'd fucked with something else of theirs instead?



"No damn way," Jack thought. But still, something about it made her curious. Soon, she was walking toward the life support section of the ship. The others were one thing, but Jack couldn't bring herself to believe that the stoic, spiritual drell could have been brought to heel by a nice set of tits and a gorgeous ass.



"Hello, Jack," Thane said, looking up from his meditations as she entered. Like the rest of them, he was unable to disguise the surprise at her visit. "Have you entered the wrong room, perhaps? I believe the women's restroom is..."



Storming over to the table before Thane could say another word, Jack pounded a fist down on the table to get his attention. "Shut up and answer my questions."



Thane reacted to Jack's anger with bemusement. "Unfortunately, doing both would be... difficult."



Jack gritted her teeth. God, this whole thing reminded her why she stayed down in the bowels of the ship most of the time. "Well, I'll make it easy for you. One question, real simple: has Miranda been in to visit you?"



The smile on the drell's face faded. "Miranda? Yes, she..." Abruptly, Thane gripped the side of his head with his hands. "Please... it would be best if you would..."



"No, goddamn it! You're not getting rid of me like the others did!" Jack snapped. "Tell me what happened!"



Thane was muttering something, and Jack had to lean down low to hear him feverishly repeating. "Think about tentacle-ball. Think about tentacle-ball."



"Answer the question!" Jack yelled. "Miranda was here. What did she do to you? Think!"

Jack flinched back as Thane's head snapped back up. Looking at her with a strange expression, Thane's voice trembled as he spoke. "Whatever happens next, I apologize."



And then his eyes were off her, and he was staring into space. His voice was distant, words spilling out of his mouth. "The door opens. She enters. Strange smile. Like Irikah seeing my arrival home after a long job. Flowers in her hand. 'Got these in Illium for a friend. How do they smell?'"



As Thane rambled, Jack stood back and watched. She'd heard a bit about the drell and their weird memory thing. Maybe she'd be able to figure out what Miranda was up to from Thane's words.



"The smell overwhelms me. A million thoughts enter my head one by one, each more vulgar than the last," Thane stood up out of his seat, moving strangely. Like he was reenacting the memory he was experiencing in his mind. "Memories of Irikah, of anything but the woman in front of me are gone. Must have her. Must... fuck her."



The sound of the vulgar word coming out of the normally serene and polite drell was a surprise, but the even bigger shock to Jack (in more ways than one) was seeing the thick bulge straining against the fabric of Thane's pants. Shit, he really was reliving this memory, in every way possible.



"She drops to her knees, hands reaching for my belt. Pants hit the floor in a heap. Blue eyes staring up at mine. 'Tell me what to do, Thane. I'm your whore to command.' Waiting for me to direct her."



"Oh, shit," Jack gasped, as she realized where this was going. Too late, she started fumbling for the earbuds in her pocket.



"'Suck it,' I command her. 'Suck my cock.' Warm lips wrapped around me."



Down on her knees in front of him, Jack reached for Thane's belt, working as quickly as possible to free the throbbing piece of meat pressing painfully against his slacks. As soon as his pants were open, Jack immediately pulled out his scaly green prick and engulfed it with her mouth.



"I place my hand on her head, urging her on," Thane was completely lost in the memory of his encounter with Miranda. Still going through the motions, he placed his hand on top of Jack's bald head, forcing her face forward against his crotch. Jack felt the head of his cock pressing against the back of her throat, and pulled away to take a gasping breath before plunging forward again.



He tasted... different. There was a pleasant tang on her tongue as she worked her mouth along Thane's scaly length. The asshole at the bar, she had tried to get him finished off as quickly, but Jack had to admit: this wasn't entirely unpleasant. Maybe once all of Miranda's mindfuckery was dealt with, and the bitch was dead in a ditch somewhere, Jack would pay another visit to Thane. Give him some new memories to make the ones from Miranda look like amateur hour.



"I release the pressure. Pull her to her feet," Thane quickly said, and his body replayed the actions. "Her face is eager. Desperate. 'Tell me what you want to do. I'm yours to use.' I tell her: 'Take off your clothes.'"



Jack was getting to be well-practiced at stripping herself naked on command. Thane continued to speak his memories back, while she unfastened her breast straps and tossed them aside, before yanking down her pants and underwear in one swift motion.



"Her body is remarkable. Soft curves. So unlike a drell female, and yet so enticing. My head still spinning from the odor of the flowers."



Funny thing was, Jack's head was spinning too. But damned if she'd smelled any flowers before she came in here. She wobbled on her feet, the room rippling like she was underwater. Was this more of Miranda fucking with her mind? Or was it... what had she heard about drell? Something about their skin and...



Her thoughts were interrupted by Thane's dictation of his memories. "I need to take her now. Cannot even wait to have her walk the five steps to my cot. 'Bend over and put your hands against the window,' I command her."



Although she was feeling a bit light-headed, Jack complied with the instructions. She felt Thane's hands stroke her hips and let out a light moan.

"She is wet. Her body aching to receive me," Thane said. And as much as Jack hated the cheerleader, this was one situation where Jack and the Miranda of Thane's memory were in total accord.



"Do it," Jack moaned, knowing that Thane wouldn't hear her in his state and not really giving a shit. "Fuck me, now."



But whatever shit Miranda had done to Jack's head, she apparently hadn't performed the same operation on her other victims. Rather than immediately thrust his alien prick inside her, Thane started teasing her. The head of his cock pressed and rubbed against her pussy lips, one last push away from penetration but still not quite there.



"I penetrate her slowly. Enjoy the sensation of sliding inside this enticing human," Thane said, as his cock started parting Jack's folds and entering her insides. Jack felt the almost uncontrollable urge to thrust her hips back and impale herself on him, but the last thing she wanted to do right now was anything that contradicted the memory that Thane was reliving. Shit, Miranda got to have her fun; why not let Jack have a ride, too?



Thane was obviously in no hurry, and every second was delicious torture as his scaly, alien cock slowly filled her. The view of the Normandy's engine from the window swam in front of her, and Jack wasn't sure if it was from whatever contact high she had gotten off of Thane's cock, or if the pleasure was starting to drive her insane. In a moment of rationality, she considered how fucked up she was going to get from having Thane's cock in her cunt, when just sticking it in her mouth was making the room start to spin. And decided that right about now, she couldn't give a fuck less.



"She moans under my touch. I let her get the feel of my cock inside her before starting to thrust," Thane muttered, the words music to Jack's ears as she felt his cock withdraw and plunge in again. Slowly at first, the alien contours of his prick hitting spots inside her that no human had ever managed. And then the pace increased, Thane's hands getting a firm grasp on her waist as he had his way with her.



"Oh, fuck... fuck, yes," Jack moaned, pressing herself back into each of Thane's thrusts. "Give it to me! So fucking good..."



"'Fuck me!' she moans. 'Fuck your dirty human whore!' I take her harder. My mind focused on nothing but reaching my climax inside this mewling, begging woman," Thane said, his voice starting to sound strained. "Not... much longer now. I feel... feel..."



Jack's orgasm hit just as she felt Thane's cum spurting inside of her. It was a struggle to remain conscious, between the mind-blowing climax and the effects of Thane's skin working through her bloodstream, but Jack was still standing when Thane pulled his spent prick out of her.



"I..." Thane blinked at her, his memory of Miranda's visit apparently completed. He hastily stuffed his deflated cock back into his pants and averted his eyes from Jack's naked body. "I am sorry. My mind was not in control of my body."



"I know the feeling," Jack bitterly muttered, as she stood up straight and faced the now-lucid drell. "But don't worry about it, okay? That was fucking incredible. Just a pity the cheerleader got to that cock before I did."



"The... cheerleader?" Thane asked, then realized who Jack was talking about and grimaced. "My encounter with Miranda was... a similar experience. When I smelled the flowers she brought, it was as if Delasera, the Goddess of Lust had taken control of my mind and body. I could think about nothing but taking her, doing every last perverted act I could think of with her." Staring at the floor, Thane reluctantly added. "The memory your questions summoned... it is not the only one I formed of that visit."

"The flowers," Jack said, struggling to think about what she had just learned, but finding it hard to focus through the fading but still potent narcotic effects flowing through her brain.



But a hazy memory surfaced: didn't Grunt say something too about a smell? Is that how the cheerleader is getting into these aliens' minds, through some weird love potion shit? But Miranda never made Jack smell anything. Not that she could remember, at least. Shit, all these missing memories she had. Bad enough she was being forced to do shit she didn't want to, but how could she even put together the full picture of what was happening if she was missing half the damn puzzle pieces?



Getting dressed, Jack saw Thane looking miserable, and actually forced a smile to her face. "Hey, seriously. This was good. Don't get too worried about you taking away my sacred honor, or something like that. I didn't do anything I didn't want to do."



Thane nodded, but still looked a bit somber. "Of course."



She thought about explaining what Miranda was up to, telling him that she and Shepard were going to make sure she got what was coming to her. But after a second's pause, she realized that it was a bad idea. If Miranda came back to visit Thane again, and started asking questions, he might spill the beans that they were on to her. So instead, she simply patted his hand. "Don't worry, pal. Got a feeling everything's going to get straightened out real soon."



* * *



Out in the hall, Jack nearly tripped over her own feet. Damn, the crazy shit she'd licked off the drell's cock was still fucking with her brain. She considered heading for the lift and getting some rest, but her eyes locked on the door at the other side of the hall and she carefully started walking toward it.



If Jack had been anyone else, with a past a lot less crime-saturated, the justicar would have been the obvious choice. Little Miss Justice would have been ready and eager to go lay down the law on Miranda and her mind-raping Cerberus buddies. But still, she felt that nervousness even thinking about the asari and her rigid definition of justice. Who was to say that, after she was done putting rounds into all the Cerberus fucks, she wouldn't turn the gun on Jack and deliver retribution for all of her sins, as well?



But right now, Samara was just about Jack's only option left. She'd talked to all the other aliens on the ship, pretty much, and Samara was the only one left who Miranda might not have already gotten to.



Shaking her head to clear out the swimmy feeling, Jack stepped up to Samara's door and hit the button to open it.



"Hey, Samara," Jack called out, as she stepped into the observation bay and the door closed behind her. Inside, the room was almost pitch black, the lights dimmed down to the absolute minimum level. In front of her, the stars streaked by outside the window, as the Normandy hit the relay jump heading to Omega.



Jack glanced around the room, searching for any sign of Samara. But the darkness of the room, plus her mentally-addled state, made it difficult for Jack to make out anyone else in the room.



And that was when she heard the unmistakable sound of the door locking behind her.



She felt her panic start to rise, as she realized she had been trapped. What if Miranda had gotten to Samara too? And convinced her to finally make her move and take Jack down? Dammit, times like this, she hated that Shepard made them keep all their guns up in the armory.



"Hello, Jack," she heard a voice behind her. As she started to turn, Samara added, "Don't move, please."



Dammit, she was screwed now. Samara's command now locked Jack in place; the justicar bitch could probably tear Jack's head clean off with her biotics, and Jack wouldn't be able to do a thing to stop her.



She tensed for the killing blow, but none came. Tentatively, Jack spoke up. "Hey, Samara, sorry to bug you while you were sleeping."



"Oh, I wasn't sleeping," Samara said, Jack still unable to turn and look behind her to see what the justicar was doing. "I just... like it dark in here. So, what brings you to see me today?"

"Uh, just wanted to ask you something," Jack said, wishing she could turn around. She didn't like having a potential threat at her back, even if she didn't seem to be hostile at the moment. "Was wondering if you'd noticed anything weird going on lately."



She heard Samara chuckling behind her, and something about it sounded strange. "Why, Jack. On a ship like this, with a crew as diverse as this, and the things we've encountered... 'weird' is sometimes hard to define. Perhaps you could be a bit more specific."



"Just... wondering if you'd seen Miranda around recently. Like, if she'd come around to visit or anything like that," Jack said. She wondered for a brief second if maybe Miranda had done to Samara what she'd apparently done to the other aliens on the ship, but she quickly discarded the notion. Miranda may have been exploring her love for aliens, but Jack knew for sure (after hacking into her personal mail file) that Miranda was all about the cock.



"Miranda," Samara repeated the name, her voice dreamy. Jack gasped as she felt something brush slowly up the middle of her back, the touch light and tickling. "Why so interested in Miranda, Jack?"



Shit. She had been so damn stupid. Going around to all the aliens, asking about Miranda, even though she suspected that they were already under her control. One of them probably spilled the beans. She was totally screwed now.



"No reason," she weakly covered. "Just wanted to make sure she wasn't fucking with you or anything."



This made Samara laugh. "An interesting choice of words. But to answer your question: yes, Miranda has come to see me."



She'd gotten to them all. Jack wanted nothing more to get the fuck out of here, but her body refused to move. "You gotta snap out of it, Samara," she begged the asari. "She's messing with your head, taking control of you."



"Taking control of me?" Samara repeated incredulously. "Jack, you couldn't be more wrong."



If Jack could have moved, she would have jumped into the air when Samara's arms wrapped around her from behind, and her hands drifted slowly up Jack's stomach towards her chest.



"Miranda freed me, Jack," Samara breathed into Jack's ear, as her hands worked on unfastening the straps across Jack's chest. "All these desires, these urges I've been suppressing for centuries... she showed me how foolish I'd been to deny myself. Oh, Goddess, I'd forgotten how amazing it felt to have a beautiful woman like you defenseless in front of me. Powerless to resist as I forced her body to experience new heights of pleasure."



The straps fell from Jack's chest, Samara's hands pulling them away. Jack gasped as she felt Samara grab her arms and yank them back and together.



"Don't worry, Jack," she heard Samara's voice, "Tonight will be a night that you'll never forget, I promise."



Jack's eyes went wide as she felt the straps that had been removed from her tits now being tied around her wrists. She struggled to summon her biotics to shove Samara away, but the lingering effects of Thane's mind trip made it impossible for her to focus.



Soon the straps were tight, and Jack's arms were immobilized. Not that it mattered anyway, though, since she was still forced to stand without moving from Samara's previous command.



"But... you're a justicar!" Jack shouted. "You aren't supposed to do shit like that."



Samara's voice in her ear again. "Wrong again, Jack. The justicar code does not include a vow of celibacy. Which is a good thing..."



Jack heard the tap of heels against the deck, as Samara stepped around her and entered her view. What Jack saw almost made her eyes bug out of her head.

Samara had discarded her ceremonial justicar armor for something a bit less formal. As in a black latex corset, cinched tight to her waist, which extended up between her bare breasts to attach to a collar around her neck. Several garter belts were fastened to the bottom of the kinky outfit, linked to a long pair of matching black latex hose. She wore no panties, and even in the dim light Jack could see that the asari was already dripping with arousal.



"Because if there were such a celibacy vow," Samara said, cocking a hip and slapping the end of a riding crop into her palm, "I will have broken it several times before you've left this room."